The Gap Stander - Martin Wiles

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For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.  II Corinthians 5:21 NLT

I needed a gap stander, and he was there. 

I can honestly say I never fought while growing up. Fighting seemed a senseless way to solve conflicts. Additionally, my build didn’t lend itself to fights. Once a school bully accused me of throwing soda on his car and demanded I wash it or suffer the consequences. Since I hadn’t soiled his car, I wasn’t about to issue a free clean. I may have chosen not to fight, but I wasn’t someone’s doormat either. When I denied his request, he threatened to pound my head. Luckily, my good friend stepped in and said, “You gonna have to go through me to get him.” The bully stepped away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. My gap stander came to my rescue and continued to until the bully’s ire subsided. 

If not careful, I’ll be tempted to think I’m self-sufficient…that I don’t need a gap stander. My boot straps are long enough for me to pull them up all by myself. God says otherwise. My spirit and soul are tarnished by a word society has attempted to tame and obliterate: sin. I’ve missed God’s best by shooting at my own targets. My present is tenuous and the future uncertain. 

Happily, Christ has changed the scenario. Sent by a God who loves unconditionally, he stood in my spiritual gap by stretching his body in the form of a cross while hanging on a cross. Here my sin payment—and that of the world, was paid. A sinless sacrifice for a sinful world. When I remove him from the cross and place him into my heart, he becomes my savior and intercessor. My gap stander. I’m safe now and will be for eternity. 

My friend would not have stood in the gap for just anyone. He did for me because we were friends. Christ, on the other hand, stands in the gap for anyone who asks. Is he standing in your spiritual gap?

Prayer: Lord of grace and glory, we entrust our spiritual condition to You, believing You will stand in the gap for us before the Father. 

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